American Badger (Streaming June 15 on FandangoNOW & Apple+)
An isolated, 12-year widower, Dean (Kirk Caouette) is an assassin going by the handle, American Badger. His boss regularly telephones in kill orders that Dean faithfully executes. Dean’s newest job is different: to befriend sex worker Velvet (Andrea Stefancikova), then gather intel on the Albanian gang that runs her. Being damaged goods, Dean and Velvet are drawn to one another. When Dean is ordered to kill Velvet, his previously orderly (and lonely) life becomes unpredictable. Longtime stuntman, Caouette, writes, directs and stars, hoping sharp fight sequences will enliven a shopworn storyline. Alas, everyone knows nice badgers always finish last. (Lisa Miller)
Center Stage (Film Movement Classics Blu-ray)
Shanghai was a world center for film production, the Chinese Hollywood, at least until war came to the city with the Japanese invasion of China. Hong Kong director Stanley Kwan revisited Shanghai in the 1920s and ‘30s with Center Stage (1991). His focus was on star actress Ruan Lingyu, an ethereal presence on those few films that survived warfare and Maoist cultural vandalism. Her smile is an enchantment and her eyes gaze toward far places. She killed herself at the height of her fame in 1935. She was only 24.
Center Stage imaginatively recreates episodes from her life and movies (Maggie Cheung plays Ruan), interposed with snippets of Ruan’s films, interviews with film scholars and even bits of “making-of” documentaries. Along with a plausible exploration of Ruan’s career, Center Stage conjures up the ghosts of a dead city—a cosmopolitan, multi-cultural Shanghai of cocktails in nightclubs where the dance bands play Latin music. (David Luhrssen)
The Hitman’s Wife’s Bodyguard (In Theaters June 16 and Streaming on FandangoNOW)
This sequel to The Hitman’s Bodyguard inexplicably elevates cocktail waitress Sonia (Selma Hayek) to the status of “infamous international con artist.” Married to hitman Darius Kincaid (Samuel L. Jackson), aging Sonia is anxious to have a baby, but since she and Darius are beset by enemies, she offers Michael Bryce (Ryan Reynolds) the assignment of watching over them while they focus on baby-making. Bryce would rather not, but having recently lost his A+ bodyguard rating, he accepts the job. Meanwhile, Antonio Banderas turns up as a Greek magnate seeking to sabotage the EU; prompting Bryce and the Kincaids to come to Europe’s rescue. Penned by a screenwriting committee that hopes cramming together thin pretexts results in hilarity, there’s even a secret role for Morgan Freeman. (Lisa Miller)
